PARIS — Sephora’s Parisian flagship has gotten a big makeover.

Following six-and-a-half months of renovation, the 12,915-square-foot store will reopen its doors to the general public on Friday. That is the primary major remodeling the situation has had since opening in 1996.

“Sephora is shaping the prestige beauty landscape,” said Guillaume Motte, the retailer’s president and chief executive officer. “We’re, in the intervening time, going through a really inspiring momentum, with vibrant innovations by way of brands, categories and products, latest customer behaviors and expectations.

“It was the right moment to reinvent the prestige beauty flagship experience,” he continued. “And, after all, the attitude of the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games [for which Sephora is an official partner of the torch relay] made it an ideal moment for this renovation.”

“We desired to create a more differentiated experience that brings together the very best of beauty from all all over the world, with an environment that’s deeply connected to the shop’s exceptional location,” continued Sylvie Moreau, president, Europe and Middle East at Sephora.

There was only one city in mind.

“The inspiration is coming from Paris,” said Benoît Ponte, general manager of Sephora France, during a walk-through last week of the shop, which was bustling with employees organising for the reopening.

The flagship’s design nods vigorously to the Avenue des Champs-Élysées, on which it stands, at numbers 70 to 72, with a 2.6-foot-wide path of hand-set snow white marble paving running straight through the shop. Sephora’s signature black-and-white stripes appear on some columns flanking that.

Making every part glow is the 295-foot-long illuminated ceiling, which will be adjusted to resemble natural light. The thought was to offer the illusion of being under one in every of Paris’ glass-covered walkways.

Upon entering, Sephora’s partitions appear to be manufactured from the limestone used on Parisian buildings, however it’s trompe l’oeil. On the left-hand side is a click-and-collect area with a selfie-friendly, multihued light box.

A bit further in, guests will find an inventory of the shop’s services, like makeup, skincare, hair, fragrance discovery, brows, face glow and personalized engraving. That hangs across from a wall ablaze with Sephora’s flame logo.

The Corner is dedicated to individual brands, with the primary being Dior. Then the complete brand experience rolls out.

“It’s very premium,” said Ponte of the choice. “Some brands are only at Sephora Champs-Élysées.”

An example of a label present in no other Sephoras is Maison Francis Kurkdjian, a fragrance brand that shares the retailer’s parent company, LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton.

Francis Kurkdjian shall be sold within the section dedicated to high-premium fragrance brands. Facing which might be premium makeup labels.

“You have got the Beauty Hub, which is de facto the Arc de Triomphe contained in the store,” said Ponte, pointing to the 540-square-foot central space. “We will animate it on our own, however the brands are animating as well. For the approaching two months we can have a latest brand doing something each day.”

At first, makeup and skincare labels will mostly take over the hub, which is modular.

There may be an area showcasing which brands are hot on social media, plus The Next Big Thing gondola and the Gift Hub.

Reda Slaoui, director of architecture and design, Europe and Middle East at Sephora, highlighted some noble materials implemented, akin to the high-quality marble used on some counters, in addition to the ground.

For the primary time in a Sephora, there are large green plants.

“Visually it has an effect when you will have plants within the space, however it also helps with the air quality,” said Slaoui, adding the brand new air-con system filters to the utmost.

Much thought was poured into corporate social responsibility initiatives. There are, as an example, fewer digital screens in the brand new location versus its predecessor. Each LED system was replaced with probably the most consumption-efficient iteration.

“This store will reduce by 50 percent the energy consumption that we had within the previous store,” said Ponte.

Acoustics-wise, it’s going to be quieter here, too, attributable to some corrugated textures on partitions, in addition to materials used, akin to wood.

This flagship also sells the big selection of prestige fragrance — for girls and for men — and color cosmetics found at other Sephoras. Those include the likes of Profit, Charlotte Tilbury and Rare Beauty.

The retailer’s signature collection has its own department, and there’s an area for hair care.

“The category of hair is booming at Sephora,” said Ponte, explaining it’s been a segment of focus for the retailer over the past two years in France, where its selling surface has doubled. Some brands lining shelves include Kérastase, Gisou, Sisley and Moroccanoil, in addition to Dyson accessories.

Where the money registers once stood on the far right of the shop now houses the skincare department, replete with strips of wood lining the partitions and elevated ceiling. This vast area, with brands akin to Byoma, Drunk Elephant and Laneige, has skin-related services. It’s illuminated with natural light streaming through large, frosted windows.

“Like hair care, it’s one other booming category for us,” said Ponte.

Merchandising was tweaked.

“We optimized the space of the brands” to assist improve circulation, said Slaoui, explaining that some gondolas are shorter than before, measuring 6.5 feet moderately than 10 feet in length.

“But at the top of the day, we express the identical volume of products,” said Ponte.

Other exclusives for France include Makeup by Mario, Prada Beauty and Glow Recipe.

Prior to the reworking, Sephora’s Paris flagship boasted 12 million visitors a 12 months, of which one-quarter were tourists from outside France. Many are considered VIP clients.

Per day, there have been greater than 10,000 people visiting, while after the renovation footfall levels must be higher, in line with Ponte.

“That’s why the circulation is so vital to the concept and the layout,” said Slaoui.

The money registers now are placed directly in the back of the shop under a big screen and self-checkout is accessible.

“We sell a product every 15 seconds,” said Ponte.

A personal lounge was expanded for VIP customers or brands to animate, with services possible.

“We have now Sephora codes — black and white — with very beautiful materials and the codes of Paris,” said Slaoui. “We’re like in an apartment here.”

This store renovation is backed by the most important investment within the history of Sephora Europe, in line with Ponte, who wouldn’t reveal numbers.

Overall, the retailer goals to take a global-yet-local approach.

“Sephora is the one prestige beauty omnichannel retailer that is really global. Nevertheless, we wish to make sure we stay relevant with the local consumer,” said Motte.

“Our latest stores, akin to the Champs-Élysées flagship, as our first London store and our newly renovated stores in Shanghai, Singapore and Wuhan, are sources of inspiration for our future renovations, as they illustrate our strategy and the experience we wish to offer to our customers,” he said, adding Sephora also learns from other initiatives, akin to its partnership with Kohl’s within the U.S.

“But there is no such thing as a ‘template,’” said Motte. “Each of them should be meaningful locally and resonate with local communities.”